Although carburators for supplying a fuel-air mixture to internal combustion engines have long been known and indeed have been produced in substantial numbers for more than half a century, there continues to be room for and need for improvement, as made apparent by continuing widespread inventive effort in this field. The problem of combining, for example, good drivability of a vehicle equipped with a carburated internal combustion engine, with close control of fuel-air mixture and improved fuel economy is not completely solved and is a problem to which the present invention is directed.
It has been known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 2,012,564 (Holmes) to, broadly speaking, aspirate fuel with pressurized air and then mix the fuel-pressurized air premixture with atmospheric air. However, use of a single operator controllable throttle member to control individual valving for the atmospheric air, pressurized air and fuel inputs, upstream of the mixing chamber, to maintain at all times complete control over these inputs, is not provided, particularly in combination with an aspiratable, or atmospheric pressure, fuel source. Moreover, despite the substantial age of the Holmes patent, the Holmes structure has not, so far as I am aware, come into wide (if any) use. Accordingly, the objects of this invention include provision of:
A carburation system employing a fuel-pressurized air premixture to enhance fine division of fuel particles in a further, atmospheric air, stream, wherein the final three-component mixture is fed to an internal combustion engine, and wherein all three of the atmospheric air, pressurized air, and fuel components are individually throttled prior to mixture and are simultaneously controlled by the operator through a throttling member.
A system, as aforesaid, in which proportional throttling control of the three input components achieved in a simplified manner through suitable placement of their throttle valves along the length of a pivoted throttling member.
A system, as aforesaid, in which fine division and uniform distribution of fuel particles is enhanced by subjecting fuel entering the mixing chamber to contact with pressurized air from two distinct and differing sets of jets, and in which the air flow rates from the two sets of jets may be proportioned as desired one with respect to the other.
A system, as aforesaid, in which accumulation of fuel particles or droplets on the walls of the mixing chamber is limited or eliminated by spherical configuration of such mixing chamber.
Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.